Volleyball
by Esee-anev
Summary: Cream wants to play Volleyball, but she's too short... good thing Cheese has a plan.


(Note: The formatting got messed up when it got uploaded... so lacking tabs, missing punctuation, etc. I'll try to fix it, but it may take a while. Sorry!)

Volleyball

Cream sat on the dock, her head slumped onto her knees, watching the ocean waves drift. In and out. In and out. In and out. Her breaths eventually timed themselves to the beat of the water. The trance was one that filled an empty mind.  
In short, Cream was very, very bored.  
Her Chao, Cheese, was equally restless. He lept over the cracks in the boards, occasionally slipping only to fly back to safety. Soon he was just as bored, and the two sat side by side, watching the endless ocean.  
The monotony was shattered by a familiar voice.  
"Hey, Cream," the hedgehog shouted from the beginning of the pier, "what's up"  
Eager to do something, the rabbit stood up, brushed some wood shavings and sand off her dress, and turned around. About a yard away was Amy, a grin on her face, bathing suit on her skin, and some sort of weird ball in her hand. Cream rushed up to her, Cheese hanging onto one of her long ears. Cream was focused on the ball. Balls meant games, games meant fun and a lack of boredom.  
"So..." Cream tried her best to act nonchalant, "what's, uh, with that ball, Amy"  
"Oh, this?" Amy lifted it slightly in the air. Cream could see the sunlight behind it, giving it a warm, holy glow. "It's a volleyball"  
"... Volleyball"  
"You know, for playing volleyball"  
The conversation began to confuse the bunny, but she recovered deftly, "So... volleyball... that requires people to play, right"  
Amy tilted her head. "Uh... yeah... I'm playing with my friends."  
The pink hedgehog pointed to a small group around a net, who were obviously annoyed by Amy's distraction.  
"I'm a friend, right?" Cream asked.  
"Yeah, I guess so".  
"So can I play?"  
"Uh... no."  
The delight vanished from Cream's face, replaced by an empty, cold expression. Cheese shook his fist at the hedgehog. Amy was somewhat aghast at the surprise change in mood, but tried to council the rabbit.  
"I'm sorry, Cream, but you're too... short. You'd never be able to hit it over the net."  
Also, you have no damned clue what volleyball is, she muttered under her breath.  
"But... but I..."  
"Sorry, but I really have to go now. Bye!" Amy yelled while running over to her friends, quickly ended the awkward conversation.  
Cream stood like a wide-eyed statue, staring at the friends starting their game. Cheese nudged her shoulder, knocking her out of her focus. The Chao whispered something into Cream's ear, to which she replied, "But... that would be mean..."  
More whispers.  
"I want to play, but..."  
Intense, louder whispers.  
"Well, put that way..."  
A simple, short whisper.  
"I guess she was kind of rude."  
A shout.  
"Cheese!"  
"Yeah, Cheese, let's do it!"

She crouched, watching it hover like a bird in the air. Wait for it, wait for it... now! She lept from the sand and slammed her fist against the topside of the ball. It slammed into the sand with deafening speed, narrowly missing the chance to lop off someone's toe.  
"Point," a sunbathing cat yelled, pushing her sunglasses back over her eyes.  
Amy raised a triumphant fist in the air. "Oh yeah, how's that! Who's the queen of spikes?"  
"Hey, isn't that your friend?" one of Amy's team, a lavender hedgehog, asked while pointing to a crudely-made cardboard image of a certain blue hedgehog.  
Amy let loose an exasperated groan. Cream and Cheese, "cleverly disguised" in a blanket of sand, seaweed, and shells were attempting to keep it still, but the cardboard was too off balance and swayed constantly.  
"Hey, there, Amy," Cream said in her best attempt at a gruff voice.  
Which, simply, was quite obviously fake.  
"Uh... hi." Amy yelled back. It was so embarrassing, with most of her friends watching the humorous situation.  
"I'm Sonic here. You know, in case you forgot. Yes, Sonic. The one and only."  
"Cheese!" Cheese stated, as if she was not assured enough.  
"I guess by the logo above your head." Amy rolled her eyes at the letters "Sonik" written on the cutout's head.  
"So, you're playing volleyball, huh?"  
Amy was silent, wishing that Cream would just go away.  
"Volleyball... sounds fun. You know whose really good at volleyball? Rabbits."  
"Oh, really?"  
"It's true. I notice that you don't have any rabbits with you... well you should. A rabbit would totally help your game."  
"I don't know any rabbits, sorry."  
"Well you're in luck! I happen to know a rabbit who is on this very beach and wants to play in a game."  
"Oh," Amy mocked, tilting her head, "who could that be?"  
"Cream! Cream and her wonderful Chao, Cheese."  
"Cheese!" the Chao agreed.  
"Well, I didn't want to invite Cream into my game because I thought she was going to be rollerblading."  
"... Rollerblading?"  
"Yeah, that's what the cement walkways are for. The rental shop's right by the docks."  
"... There's rollerblading here?"  
"The shop closes in five minutes."  
The cardboard landed face first into the sand as Cream and Cheese lept to their feet.  
"Hurry, Cheese, there's no time to lose! Let's go blading!"  
Amy and her friends watched as the rabbit sped away.  
"Cute kid," the lavender hedgehog commented, preparing a serve.  
"You'd think so," Amy muttered, but still had a smile on her face.


End file.
